Advertising device



May 10, 1938- L. PRINS ADVERTISING DEVICE AFiled Deo. 17, i935 leende/' Pf/f7.5,

SML/114A;

Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved advertising device of the type generally disclosed in my United States Letters Patent No. 1,855,648, granted April 26, 1932, wherein means is provided to cause an article or articles being exhibited or advertised to apparently move in a definite path of its or their own accord or without any apparent outside aid or force.

The primary object of the present invention is togenerally simplify and improve the construction of advertising device disclosed in my abovementioned patent, whereby the desired result may be accomplished in a more facile and economical manner. In carrying out the present invention, I provide a transparent plate which is mounted for reciprocating movement, and power-oper-v ated means for rapidly reciprocating said transparent plate, the article or articles being exhibited or advertised being so attached to said transparent plate as to reciprocate therewith without any apparent outside aid or force, the means for reciprocating the transparent plate being concealed from View, and the edges of said transparent plate also being concealed from view so that the reciprocation of said transparent plate cannot be readily detected.

By thus substituting a reciprocating transparent plate for a rotating transparent disk, the construction is made much more simple and inexpensive. A more specific advantage of the present improvement resides in the fact that the construction is durable and will not readily get out of order, and in the additional fact that a simple and efficient means is provided for directly actuating the reciprocating transparent plate so as to avoid the necessity of complicated and expensive transmission gearing or mechanism.

With the above objects and features in view, the present invention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawing and claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an advertising device constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section on line 2--2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the form of the invention shown comprises a suitable ornamental housing 5 having a relatively large transparent panel or window 6 in the front wall thereof. A second transparent panel or window l may also be provided in the rear wall of housing 5 and in registry with the front paneLor window 6.

Disposed within the housing 5 intermediate the front and rear windows 6 and 1 and carried by the'side walls. of the housing 5, are diametrically opposed vertical guides 8 in which a transparent plate 9 is guided for Vertical reciprocating movement, said transparent plate 9 being preferably carried in a suitable frame I0 and being of a length to project beyond the upper and lower ends of the guides 8. These projecting upper and lower ends of the transparent plate 9 are concealed from view of persons looking into the housing through the front window 6, by means of horizontal partitions II and I2, respectively extending between the front wall of housing 5 and the upper and lower ends of guides 8. The edges of transparent panel 9 are thus wholly hidden from view to an observer standing in front of the casing.

The reciprocating transparent plate 9 is yieldingly sustained in the lowered position of Figure 2 by means of a tension spring I3 having its lower end attached to the topf of the frame Il] and its upper end attached to the lower end of an adjusting screw I3 carried by a bracket I5 mounted at the top of housing 5. By means of the adjusting screw I4, the normal lowered position of the transparent plate 9 may be properly maintained even though the spring I3 may stretch slightly after continued use.

Means is provided for vertically reciprocating the transparent plate 9, which means preferably consists of an electrical vibrator or motor I6 having a vibrating armature I1. While the armature I1 may be connected to the frame Il) of panel 9, so as to positively actuate said panel or plate 9 in both directions, said transparent plate 9 preferably merely rests at its lower end on the armature I'I so that the vibrator I6 is utilized merely to cause the upward movements of the plate 9, the downward movement of the latter being had by reason of the same lowering by gravity. The motor or vibrator I6 may be of any well known or preferred construction, many types being conventional and well known in the art. These vibrators or motors are such that when current is applied thereto, the armature will be rapidly vibrated about the pivot I8. The vibrator or motor I 6 will of course be included in a circuit with a source of electricity and under control of a manually operable switch I9 so that the vibrator IB may be readily thrown into or out of operation.

Suitably attached to the transparent plate 9 are the articles 2l) and 2| to be exhibited and advertised. These may be rigidly attached to the transparent plate 9, or other suitable ways of attachment may be adopted. As shown, the article 20 is rigidly attached to the plate 9 as at 22, while the article 2| is carried by a short exible spring 23 attached to the plate 9. The spring 23 allows the article 2| to vibrate rapidly relative to the plate 9 as the latter is rapidly reciprocated, the article 2| also reciprocating with said transparent plate 9. This combined reciprocating and vibrating movement of article 2| is peculiar and calculated to attract attention. It will be noted that the vibrator or motor I6 is conveniently arranged in the lower portion of the casing or cabinet 5 below the partition I2 so as to be completely concealed from view.

In operation, the switch I9 is closed so as to render the vibrator or motor I6 operative. This operation causes rapid vertical vibration of armature so as to impart a similar vertical reciprocating movement to transparent plate 9 and the articles 29 and 2| carried thereby. During the reciprocation of plate 9, the observer in front of the housing may look entirely through the housing by way of the transparent front Window 6, the transparent plate 9, and the rear transparent window 1. In doing this, the observer sees the advertised or exhibited articles 20 and 2| vertically reciprocating within the housing, but cannot establish the cause of this movement because the appearance is created that the articles move in the housing of their own accord or without the aid of outside means. This is true because the movement of the transparent plate 9 cannot be noticed or detected by the observer, and the means for attaching the articles 20 and 2| to the plate 9 are hidden behind said articles.

It will be noted that the present improvement involves a construction which is extremely simple and durable and includes a minimum number of movable parts. It is therefore evident that the device may operate eiciently over a long period of time without readily getting out of order, and that the device may be readily and cheaply constructed. While the present device is primarily designed for advertising` purposes and is so described, it will be evident that the device may be modified in form and size to some extent so as to provide a novel and amusing toy. Minor changes vare accordingly contemplated Within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. For example, the transparent plate carrying'the advertised article or articles may be mounted for horizontal reciprocation, or may be mounted for oscillation similar to a pendulum. In other words, the said plate may be moved back and forth either vertically or horizontally, or may be reciprocated in either a rectilinear or an arcuate path. Obviously, the window 6 and/or the window 1 may be omitted, if desired.

What I claim as new is:

An advertising device comprising a housing, a transparent window in the front wall of said housing, vertical guides within the housing, a transparent plate arranged in said guides for vertical reciprocating movement, a spring yieldingly suspending said transparent plate, an electrical vibrator concealed Within the lower portion of the housing and having its armature engaged with the lower end of said transparent plate for rapidly raising said transparent plate and permitting lowering thereof by gravity alternately, and an article to be advertised carried by and movable with said transparent plate.

LEENDERT PRINS. 

